


Servant of the Seas

by shebephoebe



Series: Ben&Bea [3]
Category: Much Ado About Nothing (David T/Catherine T), Much Ado About Nothing - Shakespeare
Genre: F/M, Loving Marriage, Mild Angst, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 23:16:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28733334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shebephoebe/pseuds/shebephoebe
Summary: Based on the stage production of Much Ado About Nothing with David Tennant and Catherine Tate. If you haven't watched it, do so; I do not do it justice in the least. Characterizations are based on character interpretations from that production. Shout out to my writing buddy Ruby for helping further develop the characters and storyline. We have Lore.Story is set following the events of the play. In this case: roughly a year or so later.Note: I hate Claudio and will never be nice to his character so don't ask.
Relationships: Beatrice/Benedick (Much Ado About Nothing)
Series: Ben&Bea [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2098035
Kudos: 7





	Servant of the Seas

Benedick had never considered Hero particularly pretty, and that only got worse after she married Claudio. This is not to say she took less care of herself; rather, she spent more time on her appearance, which pushed her straight into Uncanny Valley levels of beauty that just didn’t sit right with him.  
After a “Girls’ Weekend” with Beatrice and Meg, she seemed to have some proper color again.  
The whole house had more color. It was a shock to his system. He understood why some fish, when they are moved from the spartan tanks at the store and placed in elaborate displays at the dentist, die from the shock of it.  
But, like with Hero, he had to admit the house looked good with a little color to it.  
After the girls had gone and Beatrice had told him most of their gossip, she led them back around to Hero. She’d noticed the color, but for a different reason.   
“Hero’s pregnant,” she said with a precise lack of emotion.  
That wasn’t a surprise. He prayed it was a girl: Hero would love that, and it would frustrate Claudio.  
“Leonato will be happy,” Benedick replied, watching his wife’s face.   
Beatrice’s fingers traced patterns in the new kitchen towels. Those had not been here when Benedick had left. He would have remembered hedgehogs in bow ties.  
“Not Claudio?” Beatrice pressed.  
“Claudio won’t think of it until he’s holding that baby in his arms, and maybe not even then.” His eyes were drawn again to the hand towel. Honestly, Benedick had always thought Beatrice had better taste than this.  
Beatrice looked from the towel to her husband, grinning impishly. “Do you like it?”  
Benedick snatched the towel out from under her hand and whipped it into the sink. Unfortunately, that meant he could concentrate again, and he really did not want to concentrate on this.  
He gathered up his wife’s hands in his and pressed his lips to her fingers. “Much better.”  
Beatrice didn’t smile. There were storm clouds building at the horizon of her gaze, waiting for a gust from the sea to push them to shore.  
“What did Don Pedro have to say?”  
Benedick’s thumbs massaged her fingers. If he concentrated just on that, on tracing the same tiny circles over and over, he might be able to say it. There was nothing for it but to try. “We’re being called back—”  
“No.” Beatrice slipped her hands from his and turned away. He half-expected her to cover her ears. “No, you can’t.”  
“Bea, I have to.”  
“No you don’t!” Her voice cracked like thunder running before the storm. “You shouldn’t have gone back. You were free. You’d given him your resignation—” She spun back. “Why did you go back?”  
He didn’t have an answer that was good enough for her. In fact they’d had this conversation before, just after their honeymoon, when he’d officially confirmed with Don Pedro that he was still in the service. Beatrice had changed the subject, then.  
“I only have a few more years to serve before I can retire. I don’t want to waste—“ No, that was the wrong thing to say. “Nothing bad is going to happen. I’m sorry it’s so soon but I promise—“  
“Don’t.” She shook her head fiercely. “Don’t you dare make that promise.”  
“Bea—”  
“You want to go back!” She stepped away, putting the kitchen island between them. “You would never have rescinded your resignation otherwise.”  
And he couldn’t argue with her. She knew how much it had torn him up to give Don Pedro that letter. He’d done it for her, for Hero. He’d been performing a duty.  
But that duty had been fulfilled, and another returned in its place. He still had work to do. He didn’t know anything else.  
Outside the sea shushed against the shore, ever calling him back. Ever since he was a child. But its voice was not alluring to Beatrice, only hungry.  
Beatrice’s eyes swam with tears. “I’m not enough.”  
It wasn’t just him she accused.  
“Beatrice, no….” He couldn’t reach her. He didn’t move for fear he’d startle her even further away. “No, my love, no, that’s not—”  
“Then go.” She wiped quickly at her cheeks as her old fire returned. “Leave as you have the luxury to do. Go have your adventures with Don Pedro and all the rest. I imagine Claudio will go as well, though no doubt he is no longer in high standing with the prince. Don Pedro must look for new disciples now.” Her expression hardened. “But he shall always have his Benedick, loyal to the last.”  
“That’s not fair.”  
Beatrice flapped a hand and turned toward the dining room. “I’ll manage well enough without you, husband, have no fear. I am not going to be some tragic sailor’s wife waiting for my husband to return—” She cut off sharply. The end of that sentence hung like a gallows between them: “like my mother”.  
“I would never….” Clenching his jaw, Benedick rounded the island. “Beatrice, please. You knew I would have to go back sooner or later. Better to have done with it now, and I swear to you I will return.”  
She glanced over her shoulder at him, eyes red with angry tears. “And how am I to believe you?”  
When he reached for her hands, she didn’t pull away. He’d made other promises like this, her hands to his heart. Promises he’d made just to see her smile again. Promises he’d kept.  
“Trust me.” He waited until she looked at him. “Princes and oceans are nothing to this pledge: I will come home. As soon as I may, I will retire from service and be yours forever, I swear it.”  
A bitter smile quirked one corner of her mouth. “But until that time, I must share you with the sea.”


End file.
